everages and aircraft type" (Miller 1).
The CAB was charged with admitting new carriers through board certification, but in practice no certification was made and no new competitors were created. Mergers and acquisitions were approved almost exclusively to salvage financially ailing carriers, and route proceedings took a great deal of time with few results (Miller 1). Miller further states that one of the main reasons for the creation of the CAB in 1938 was to protect existing air carriers from competition, seen as a way to help the new industry grow. The number of carriers actually declined in these early years because the board did not certify new carriers that would serve to replace carriers merged out of existence. Trans Caribbean was the only carrier to gain a certificate, and that airline was later absorbed by American Airlines (1).
The rate-making powers of the CAB were meant to ensure an adequate rate of return for the certificated air carriers, and the board prescribed the fare levels that had to be adhered to by all carrie
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